Choosing the Perfect Silicone Shields for a Lash Lift Treatment

To our clients, the most important part of a lash lift treatment is the way their lashes look at the end – that they look longer and more curled than the lashes they walked in with. Of course this will come down to the products that you used and how long you leave them on the lashes for, but the success of your lash lift rests upon the selection of your shields!

What are silicone shields?

InLei® shields are made from medical grade silicone and you simply could not perform the treatment without them in your lash lift kit!

Most importantly, shields need to be chosen according to our clients’ natural lash length and curl. By selecting the shield's proper size or shape, we can dramatically change the client's appearance, lifting straight and even downward growing lashes to hide imperfections and get a uniform curl across the whole lash line.

Choosing Your Lash Curl 

Choosing the correct shields gives us the ability to create amazing shapes and curls for our clients, and InLei silicone shields give us even more freedom than most with eight different sizes and styles to choose from, so that we can give our clients the best lash lift ever!

InLei® shields come in two main styles – those marked with a ‘1’ (Natural Curl collection) give a more natural curl which gently lifts the lashes from the root and keeps the tips straighter. The curl you will achieve with this line is more natural and gives a softer result. These shields are the perfect choice for those with more hooded eyes as the lashes won’t tickle the eyelids when they’re lifted. They are also ideal for those male clients who are looking for a subtler lift. These shields will help to tidy messy lashes.

It’s worth noting that these shields won’t be suitable for those whose lashes are growing downwards, as the lashes will begin to look very strange when the new baby lashes come through and will be difficult for your client to maintain.

The second silicone shield style that inLei offer is the "Perfect Curl" line – this is my personal favourite! These shields are equivalent to a CC or D curl in the lash extensions, giving us a beautiful, strong, enhanced doll-like curl, which most of your clients are hoping for.

Perfect Curl shields are also a great choice when your client's lashes are growing downwards. In this case, we are changing the curl of natural lash gradually, from the base to the tips, which makes lashes more curled than lifted, so it's safe to use them for downward growing lashes.

How to Place The Silicone Shields 

InLei® shields are an essential tool to achieve a perfect lash lift, but you need to know how to work with them to get the best possible results! Here we will talk about the features of inLei shields, and what makes them the very best lash lift product!

While regular lash lift rods are thinner in the inner and outer sections but thicker in the middle, inLei silicone shields are tapered - they are thinner in the inner corner and get steadily thicker until the very outer edge, giving the lashes the perfect lift and lengthening effect!

Before each treatment with a new client, you’ll need to analyse the natural lash position. You will spot that the outer corner lashes of 70% of the clients will grow downwards. To correct that, all you need to do is use the reverse shield method by inverting the shields. This means the shield's thickest part will be in the inner corner and the thinner section will be in the outer corner. This method allows you to create a more substantial lift in the outer corner and get a uniform curl level. This is a lash hack that will change your lash lift technique forever!

Choosing the Right Size Silicone Shield

Finally, choosing the right size is just as important as selecting the shield's type, or the eye that they’re placed on. The correct size will guarantee that you will get a perfect lift and curl, and that the lashes will not have strange bends in the tips!

InLei shields range has five sizes, marked like in the clothing industry: 

• S- small, which gives curl even to the tiniest lashes 
• M- medium perfect for small and medium 
• L- Large this size can handle medium and long lashes
• XL- extra-large for those very long lashes
• And just recently, InLei introduced a new size to the lash lift market, which is XXL, to restrain super long lashes – shop them here now!

To choose the right size, you need to do a little "lash fitting" at the start of your appointment. Apply shield on the eyelid (don't stick it with the glue yet) and, using the Fillering Tool, lift the lashes on the shield to see how much of it they cover. The perfect fit is when the lashes are reaching 70% of the shield’s length. Later on, when you start to stick the lashes with the glue to align them and straighten them up on the shield, most of them will probably reach 100% of the shield length, and this is what we are aiming for!

When you will do a "lash fitting", if the lashes are covering more than 70% of the shield, it means that this shield is too small. By using a small shield during the treatment, you risk that the lashes' tips will go beyond the curved part of the shield, which can cause bent, L shaped tips. Using a small shield is very risky, but on the other side, when we will use a too big shield, either way, we will not achieve a perfect lift. You’ll know a shield is too big when, during the "lash fitting", the natural lashes will reach only 50% of the shield length or less. Using a bigger shield than is ideal will affect the curl's level - the bigger shield means the weaker curl. 

Forma Lash Shields

A more recent addition to the InLei® Lash Shield collection is the Forma Lash Shields. Forma is a one-size universal shield that gives a gorgeous lift between 'Natural Curl and 'Perfect Curl' and is suitable for use on nearly every client, regardless of their lash length. This shield has a half-moon shape, providing a natural lift/dolly look as opposed to a full curl with the Silicone Lash Curlers. They are a great option for clients with sunken eyes or larger, bulging eyes as it ensures the lashes don't curl back too far towards the eyelid. Forma Shields can stick to the eyelid with just a small amount of water (no glue required!), making them hypoallergenic and the go-to shield for clients with sensitivities or glue allergies. Check out this blog for more information on Forma!

We recommend having both options in your lash lift kit to ensure you can cater to every client.

I am a big fan of playing around with the shield shapes, sizes, and positions, and I hope this article will help you understand this process and fall in love with this step of the lash lifts! 

Written by Guest Blogger, InLei UK Trainer Mariola Mikolajczyk